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The Dangers of Indifference - Correction?

The Dangers of Indifference

Indifference is silent and undetectable until it is provoked, explodes, then is no more. Anger and hatred on the other hand express the acknowledgement of an individual’s agony. A century ago, millions of people experienced the bitterness of indifference; for instance, the genocide in Rwanda: only four hundred UN peacekeepers were there to protect thousands of Tutsis. Everyone in the Western world just blindly looked away. Today’s genocide in Sudan is still going on. Has anybody taken it seriously in Canada? The answer is no. This is why thousands of Sudanese suffered and died. Therefore, indifference is more hideous than anger and hatred because it has an indirect impact on both individuals and society. Indifference has the greatest indirect impact on individuals. Many people consider that anger and hatred are the worst human attributes. The truth is that indifference is an even worse human attribute because it has no emotion, no expression and no response. In Elie Wiesel’s “Peril of Indifference”, Wiesel states, “Anger can be creative. One writes a great poem, a great symphony…But indifference is never creative. Even hatred at times may elicit a response. You fight it. You denounce it. You disarm it...Indifference is not a response.” (Wiesel, 2). As a result, indifference is more frightful than anger and hatred because it does not give victims a chance to express themselves. Then they will feel abandoned and forgotten. In addition, many people also believe that anger and hatred are the utmost symbol of evilness. Although many people believe so, indifference can even lead good people to do nothing in the face of evil. In Hotel Rwanda, the cameraman makes it clear to Paul that people in the Western world would apathetically watch the news and move on with their lives. Being indifferent is therefore more severe than people who hate and angry because it also leads good people in the Western world to do nothing to stop the horrific atrocities Moreover, indifference has the greatest indirect impact on society. One may firmly believe that anger and hatred cause the most violence in this world. No, that is certainly not true. Indifference can reveal the cruelty of a society in an indirect way of by supporting evil. In Wiesel’s “The Perils of Indifference”, Wiesel describes, “…Wrapped in their torn blankets…staring vacantly into space…They no longer felt pain, hunger, thirst…They felt nothing” (Wiesel, 2). An indifferent society does nothing to prevent atrocities such as the Holocaust and the Rwandan genocide. This will only lead to unimaginable disaster. Hence, indifference is more dreadful than anger and hatred. Furthermore, one may also firmly believe anger and hatred are major causes which will affect international relationship. They are not as austere as indifference. If a society does not care about the countries that are engaged in war, then it will eventually drive that society into isolationism. In Hotel Rwanda, an UN official’s haunting speech tells Paul that no one cares about his poor and black country. This only makes a society feel as if it is not a part of the world. Thus, an indifferent society is more inhumane than an angry and hateful society. Anger and hatred, overall, are not the worst human attributes, but indifference is. Indifference is an undetectable bomb which will explode at anytime or anywhere. Hence, it is more dangerous than anger and hatred. If everyone becomes apathetic, there will be more atrocities. If nobody stands up for victims, then the victims will continue to be hurt and brutalized. A society should never turn its back on the countries that are involved in war. It should build more organizations such as a genocide education and prevention organization in order to raise the awareness of the dangers of indifference.

Please help this is serious!

Last edited by MrPedantic; 12-Nov-2008 at 22:42.
Reason: To mark passages for attention

Re: The Dangers of Indifference - Correction?

Hello H&K,

I may have misunderstood; but the essay seems to imply that indifference may lead to the absence of action where action is required; that indifference is therefore worse than hatred, even though hatred may lead to actions that are thought of as "evil".

However, there seems to be a kind of paradox here: indifference is presumably sometimes indifference to those "evil" actions (e.g. the "horrific atrocities").

So you're saying that failure to act to resolve a problem is somehow "worse" than creating that problem in the first place.

Re: The Dangers of Indifference - Correction?

Originally Posted by MrPedantic

Hello H&K,

I may have misunderstood; but the essay seems to imply that indifference may lead to the absence of action where action is required; that indifference is therefore worse than hatred, even though hatred may lead to actions that are thought of as "evil".

However, there seems to be a kind of paradox here: indifference is presumably sometimes indifference to those "evil" actions (e.g. the "horrific atrocities").

So you're saying that failure to act to resolve a problem is somehow "worse" than creating that problem in the first place.

Re: The Dangers of Indifference - Correction?

I would give the grammer and sentence structure an 80%; but the continuity and writing style and knowledge of material would be a 25%.

The essay is bumpy and reads like parts of it are copied from sources. It contradicts itself and lacks a clear definition of the main topic. I would give the essay back to you and ask you to re-write it.